Thursday, July 27, 2006

Friday 28th July

'Afoot in 2 Dales' was as hot a day as I can remember in the hills, comparable with Wasdale last year, and the descent from Great Shunner Fell was without even the slightest breeze. This must be the best LDWA 50 miler in the north of England, perhaps simply the best in the country. If it runs again we will be there and you should be too. Depite the heat and Pauline suffering through lack of food in the first 20 miles we took an hour off our 2004 time and were very chuffed to finish in the daylight. To give my legs a chance to recover, on Sunday, I took my road bike out just for half an hour to stretch my legs and get rid of the stiffness, The rest of the week has been short morning and evening sessions, mainly on the road with run over Winter Hill to add a bit of (more) serious climbing. My legs feel as though they are almost completely recovered and next week I should do the 'magic 10,000 feet' and then start tapering for the 12th.

Last Week84 miles 9400 feet

Next WeekCoope's Dozen on Saturday - 18 mile club jaunt over Winter Hill with 'no racing' until the 12th summit. Last year I remember hanging on to the group by my finger nails until Healey Nab when, within seconds, I found myself all on my own trying to work out how to get back to Rivington. This year may well be the same - it just depends who turns up. The rest of the week I'll be less concerned with mileage and more focused on gettiing the climbing done before winding down.

Support TeamsTry to finalise details next week although holidays and other commitments mean that I could still be waiting on some confirmations at the end of next week but things will come together before the day.